


Torchwood: Renaissance

by yazs_mum



Category: Doctor Who, Doctor Who & Related Fandoms, Doctor Who (2005), Torchwood
Genre: Angst, Doctor Who References, Gen, Missing Persons, Murder Mystery, POV Yasmin Khan, Rift (Torchwood), The Hub (Torchwood), Torchwood Three
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-08
Updated: 2020-07-14
Packaged: 2021-03-05 06:21:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 4,939
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25149880
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/yazs_mum/pseuds/yazs_mum
Summary: 6 months after Yasmin watched the Doctor walk to her death on Gallifrey and she is struggling to re-adjust to normal life, yearning for more once again, when she is presented with a seemingly impossible case at work and thousands of unanswered questions. Finally something interesting.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 4





	1. One Thousand and One Questions

**Author's Note:**

> This story is set 6 months after "The Timeless Children" and after the events of "Torchwood: Miracle Day" This is my own timeline without the events of "Aliens/Gods among us" as I wanted to write a new torchwood series but am unable to listen to the audiobooks. Thank you for reading! :)

Yasmin Khan stared down at the mug of tea she held in her hands, swirling the warm mixture round and round in careful circles. The cold morning sun washed over the kitchen table and lit the room, as she listened to the man on the news rattle about something or other. She didn’t really care what he had to say, Yasmin thought it was always so small, so insignificant. He seemed almost an idiot for believing that the most exciting and extraordinary thing that could happen is a strange weather pattern or a local youth getting a bit too excited with a knife, but Yasmin knew better, she knew there was more out there.

It had been almost 6 months since the Doctor had said goodbye on Gallifrey. Since she had… sacrificed herself. Yaz felt a pang in her chest every time she thought about her, about how the Doctor had given up her life for the greater good, how she had saved her friends but couldn’t save herself, how she had just watch it happen helpless and dumbfounded. Yaz felt a mixture of guilt, anger, and sadness. But most of all she felt lonely, this woman had fallen out of the sky, quite literally, and shown her the universe, and all of a sudden it was over. She was back at her flat, back at her job, back with two feet on the ground heading slowly forwards in one solid timeline, how boring Yaz had thought. She never understood how Ryan and Graham had just got on with life, as if nothing had ever happened, Ryan appeared to be perfectly happy working on his NVQ and playing basketball with his mates, even if he was pretty rubbish at it. Yaz hadn’t spoken to Graham in a while but from what she heard from Ryan he was busy taking cookery courses and learning how to paint, how boring, Yaz thought once again.

At least she was finally off probation, every cloud has a silver lining and all that. Being back at work for a solid length of time meant she was finally working more interesting and challenging cases, although, Yaz had a suspicion that she was only trusted with these as the Sergeant had been there when she was recruited by the mysterious MI5 operatives. Yaz finally downed her tea and grabbed her bag shouting goodbye to no one in particular as the door banged shut behind her. She was finally ready to face the day.

The atmosphere inside the police station was extremely different to that of outside, Yaz enjoyed her 15 minute walk to work as she was usually the only one out in the street, and the air felt light and cool on her face, inside however, the air was one of organised chaos, people power walking holding files and books and coffees, people talking over one another, doors banging open and shut, chairs scraping and keyboards clacking. Yaz watched everyone for a moment, they moved like clockwork, old rusted and rusted but clockwork none the less, it was strangely hypnotic. She was broken out of her trace as she felt something thud her into her back, she looked up to see her superior office, sergeant Ramesh Sunder looking down at her.

“Good morning Yasmin.” He smiled wiping breakfast crumbs out of his beard, Yaz nodded politely and replied, “Morning sir.” She watched his demeanour carefully, he seemed happy enough, but he tapped his foot impatiently, almost anxiously and folded his arms over his chest. “Is there anything I can help with?” She asked watching his now faltering smile. He dropped his arms to his sides and sighed, sounding almost defeated, “Yasmin, I think we should have a quick word in my office.” A wave of anxiety washed over her, and hundreds of thoughts rushed through her mind, was she in trouble, had she done something wrong, had something happened to someone? She took a deep breath and followed him to the double doors, holding her head high and striding with purpose, just as the Doctor always seemed to do, especially when she had no idea what she was doing or was trying to bluff her way out of a situation.

Sergeant Sunder sat on the far side of the desk, slid some papers to one side and gestured for Yaz to sit in the opposite chair. Yaz awkwardly shuffled the chair forwards and folded her jacket into her lap whilst the senior officer rifled through a draw close to the floor. He tapped an envelope on the desk thinking, before laying it in front of Yaz and beginning, “A short while ago, a young officer from a police branch in London was sent out to investigate a missing persons case, it was a very strange case and to this day remains unsolved.” Yasmin started to become uninterested and her mind started to drift, thousands of cases of this nature go unsolved every year, it didn’t mean it was fair or just, but it did mean it was pretty standard. However, her interest piqued when she heard the sergeant say shakily, “the police officer that investigated it went out one night and never returned, his body was never found, and the case hit a dead end.” He looked sad as he fiddled with the corner of the envelope on the desk. He paused and hesitantly slid the envelope towards the young police constable sitting opposite him and continued, “The case was shelved about two months ago, hitting a dead end, no new leads and all that, well that was until today, I was sent this letter attached to a file summarising the findings of the now missing officer.”

Yaz looked at him quizzically and grabbed the envelope he had pushed towards her. She turned it over to open it when she noticed the seal, a thick red, wax circle displaying swirling patterns of lions and a coat of arms, “But this is from the- the Queen.” She stuttered confused, “What has any of this got to do with me?” Her voice barely a whisper.

“Just open it.” The sergeant said urgency in his voice. Yaz carefully prised open the envelope and pulled out a letter, it stated that she was to take on the case as a known associate of the Doctor and on behalf on the crown, it mentioned that they, whoever they is, believe that there is alien intervention and that the case must be solved with utmost urgency, they would be keeping tabs and contact her again soon. Her eyes widened in shock as she read and re-read the letter before her, it didn’t say who sent it and it had been written on a typewriter of some description. The sergeant immediately quizzed her about the letter, he was just as, if not more curious about the letter than Yaz. She succinctly explained that she was taking on the case on behalf of the crown, leaving out the bit about alien intervention as she thought that might be a bit too much to explain. The sergeant wished her luck as she stood up to leave and turned his focus to an email he had been procrastinating.

Yaz’s mind was reeling, she didn’t know how to feel. She read the letter for what must be the 30th time, “A known associate of the doctor” she thought, who knew about her? The Queen? That’s ridiculous, but still she toyed with the thought. She felt anxious as she reached the part about them keeping tabs, was someone watching her? She one thousand and one questions, and no way of answering them, plus a seemingly impossible case and a lot of pressure.


	2. Sandhill Storage

Yaz muttered good morning to a colleague opposite her, as she sank into a chair and dropped the letter on her desk and opened the file Sergeant Sunder had entrusted her with, she was disappointed to see that the information was nowhere near thorough enough, a list of 8 missing people, their last known location and some basic personal information and family statements, as well as some nonsensical notes about a “tear in a rift”, a secret building and “Sandhill storage house”. Yaz wondered if the police officer before her had gone mad, no wonder he had gone missing. She knew about time travel and alien life, but she could barely understand most of the words in front of her. She rested her head in her hands and shut her eyes, a stress headache already starting to form, why on earth was she being relied on to solve this?

After a few minutes of stressing and procrastinating, she reluctantly turned on the old computer before her, it wheezed and groaned as she typed in her details. “Great, just my luck!” She scoffed under her breath; the computer had decided it needed to update, “This is gonna take years”. Idly, she rocked back on her chair, massaging her temples, and looking towards the television at the other end of the room. A news report was playing on the tv which caught her eye.

“Today marks the 5-year anniversary of the Longmoore disappearances. 5 years ago today, the first victim from Longmoore village went missing, the village was devastated as another 6 people went missing over the next fortnight. Families of the victims are still appealing for any information.” The newsreader stated before moving onto a starkly different story about a little girl rescuing a kitten. Yaz remembered reading about Longmoore when she was only 16, seven young adults all went missing from the same village, the bodies were never found. Yaz almost laughed as she realised that it was pretty similar to her case. Her case had seven people missing presumed dead, and from what she had read Yaz was pretty certain they all came from the same small town, East Sandhill.

An idea popped into her head and sudden motivation rushed through Yaz as she looked at the computer in front of her, it had finished updating and her fingers flew across the keyboard, she pulled up a virtual map and zoomed in, staring furiously at the glowing screen. She smiled and hummed to herself as she plotted the victims last known locations on the map, before realising she probably shouldn’t be smiling so much about missing people. After a couple of minutes of carefully marking locations, she sat back satisfied with her work. “Woah.” She whispered to herself, the approximate last known locations made an almost perfect circle on the map about half a kilometre in radius, “What the hell?” She exclaimed out loud this time, Yaz finally admitted that the case was interesting and worth her time, in fact she felt inspired for the first time since she had returned to Earth.

“Everything okay Yaz?” She heard a colleague call from another desk.

“Yep, yeah, fine…” She muttered unable to tear her eyes away from the screen, leaning in and bouncing her leg in anticipation and intrigue. In the middle of the circle, the dead centre, an unmarked building was sitting, untouched, seemingly unnoticed. She had no idea what the building was, or what it contained. All she knew was it was just outside Leicester, near East Sandhill. Wait- Yaz grabbed the notes from the police officer, she had discarded them but then she realised, “sandhill storage house” maybe the only bit of useful information the officer had left, that’s what the building was, some sort of storage place or warehouse.

After a quick google search, Yaz had come to realise that Sandhill storage house was a government sanctioned building storing files and technology, she wondered why it was in the middle of nowhere. Furthermore, if she would be able to get in, and what she would find there. She wasn’t entirely sure why, let's call it a hunch, but she was certain that this building would hold some sort of answers. She created a word document to try and organise her thoughts, before realising her notes sounded remarkably like the Police Officer’s prior to her. Maybe he wasn’t so insane after all. She had quickly tapped out her findings about the circle, the storage facility, the stuff she knew for a fact. She moved hastily into her ideas and theories, questions she was asking herself. Yaz wondered if the Longmoore disappearances were connected, it seemed too much of a coincidence. Plus, the Doctor had always said that coincidences don’t exist. Fuelled by curiosity she grabbed her bag and rushed out of building.

It was a little over an hour drive in the post rush hour traffic to East Sandhill, it was a nice car but undeniably a step down from the TARDIS Yaz thought to herself, and it was definitely more cramped on the inside than it looked. As she drove, she hummed along to a few songs on the Radio and tried to keep her mind away from all the questions she had about the letter and focus instead on the case. The GPS didn’t have the building as a set location, and she couldn’t find a postcode anywhere online, so she decided to drive into East Sandhill and use a simple map from there. She had become accustomed to improvising and navigating new locations on her travels with the Doctor but for Yaz this situation seemed much more terrifying than any alien planet or distant moon, perhaps it was because it hit so close to home.

The police car rolled into a small-town square and Yaz parked it next to the square patch of grass in the centre. As she got out she assessed her surroundings, her plan was to get her bearings, chat to a couple of local people and see if there was a map of the area, her ordnance survey map wasn’t useless but a local one would have been helpful. However, as she got out the car, she realised something was very, very wrong.


	3. Ghost Town

The only thing Yaz could hear as she got out of the car was the breeze bellowing in her ears. No people talking, shopping, no cars driving, no children playing, nothing. Dead silence. She was surrounded by a square of grey, dilapidated buildings, and three exits from the square. The one storey building to her left looked like it was once a pub, the sign above the door was too faded to tell and the windows were covered in grime and dust. Next door was a taller building with a few smashed windows and apparently no lights, she walked over and peered in carefully, it looked like a shop. The tills were abandoned, and the floor was swamped with litter and water damage. Yaz crinkled her nose at the musty smell and started to make her way round the village.

“They must have abandoned the village when the people went missing.” She whispered to herself, trying not to feel so isolated. She decided to cross the square to what looked like a town. Yaz tried to imagine what the town could have looked like in years gone by, colourful flowers and fruit markets, children playing under the afternoon sun, cake shops and cafes open for business, the reality was much greyer and drearier.

Anxiously, Yaz made her way back to the car, ready to move on to the storage facility, but as she walked, she heard something. Barely a whisper over the rustling trees, but she definitely heard a voice, she looked around quickly but saw she was still completely alone. As she continued to walk, she felt it breathe on her neck and chills run down her spine. An innocent but mocking voice making sounds she had never heard before, pushing into her mind, and rummaging around. She quickened her pace, slamming the door as she got in. What the hell was that, she thought, whatever it was, it wasn’t friendly. She scanned the village apprehensively but couldn’t see anyone or anything, no one for miles, she was completely alone. The thought of being so horribly alone, to the point where no one would ever hear her if she cried for help sent another sharp shiver down her spine.

She tried to push all her thoughts to the back of her head as she pulled the map from the backseat. “Right, okay…” She breathed, guiding her finger along the map, she found East Sandhill and the country lane linking it to the storage facility, “This exit then.” She said with a triumphant smile. She was out of the ghost town in minutes and the unease weighing on her shoulders was long gone, her next challenge quickly approaching. It was nearing midday and the sun shone brightly in the sky as Yaz manoeuvred her car down twisting, overgrown country lanes, her vision was obstructed by the dense trees and bushes lining the road. She swore slightly under her breath as the wing mirror scraped against a stone wall. The road was becoming narrower and narrower and the undergrowth becoming too thick, but like a breath of fresh air, the road opened out suddenly.

Yaz felt the sudden contrast from the bumpy country lane to the smooth tarmac driveway before she saw the building. She made a final left turning and finally saw the Sandhill Storage House, a looming metallic building with a giant jaw like door and a chain link fence. Yaz shuddered as she wondered if the fence was keeping her out or something else in. She quickly surveyed the area, this building seemed just as abandoned as the Ghost Town she had come from, this time, that was exactly what she wanted to see.

Yaz grabbed her bag from the back seat and slipped of her high-vis police jacket. “Let’s go.” She took a deep breath and got out of the car, closing it quietly and dashing towards the bushes on her left. She didn’t want to chance bumping into anyone, so she decided to play it safe. Yaz silently padded round the back of the facility, sticking close to the shadows. A sigh of relief escaped her as she realised there was no one guarding it outside at least. She threw her bag over the fence which hit the concrete floor with a clunk and began to slowly scale the chain link fence. She landed on the ground neatly, brushed herself down and strode confidently to a door on the right-hand side of the building. She was fully prepared to pick the lock or attempt to kick in the door, however she was extremely surprised when the door simply opened with a slight click. Yaz didn’t know weather to be relieved or concerned but nothing was going to stop her. The door swung open with a loud groan revealing a gaping mouth of darkness, a rush of cold air escaped and washed over Yaz making her shiver, everything inside her was screaming retreat but she had already come too far. Fearlessly, she plunged into the gloom.


	4. Faded

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this is so long, thank you so much for reading :)

A dripping sound echoed from somewhere in the darkness looming ahead, the air smelled musty and stale. Yaz pulled out her torch, flooding the grimy corridor with a hazy yellow light. Yaz could hear scuttling and squeaking and somewhat hoped it was a rat or mouse and not some strange alien rodent. She didn’t really know what she was looking for, maybe files on Longmoore or East Sandhill, perhaps the government was involved, especially since it was the crown who had recruited her. Yaz’s mind was reeling with ideas and theories, spurring her forwards, eagerly hunting for answers and clues, as if she had an extreme hunger that would never be satisfied.

Yaz was extremely surprised by the interior of the building, it proved to be very different from the exterior, almost something you would find in an old country home, brown floorboards, and intricate wallpapers, mostly faded and tattered by time, stained brown by years of water damage. The corridor was lined with old paintings in older frames and a couple of sideboards that reminded Yaz of her Grandmas china cupboard at home. As she walked down the hall, she ran her finger along one of the cabinets, she felt like she could choke on the dust. She wondered if the Police Officer before her had been here, it didn’t seem like anyone had stepped foot here in years, she felt as if she was standing in a chunk of history, completely in the wrong time zone, like her own little pocket of reality.

In her aimless wandering of the building, Yaz had found her way down the corridor and into a huge opening that seemed like a lobby, a small amount of light was breaking through the towering windows looking out to the front courtyard, how strange. As she looked out the window, the exterior was nothing like what she saw from the outside, there was no metal fence or tarmac drive, instead a luscious garden, with huge bushes and flowers and a swirling stone fountain. The large brown wooden doors also shocked Yaz, as they were exactly where the metal doors had been on the front of the building. Rich and sophisticated patterns were carved into the panels and grimy brass door handles punctuated the entrance. Yaz turned at looked at the room, twin staircases swirled up each side of the room to a balcony, she couldn’t see what was on the balcony as her view was obscured by the biggest chandelier Yaz had ever seen, the carpet beneath her feet was faded and quite frankly a horrible shade of green. She thought about how she would have loved to see this building as it once was, in all its former glory. She asked herself what the building was used for and how it ended up in this state, it was sad in a way.

She investigated the desk carefully, rummaging through every draw, looking for any scrap of paper or piece of information she could lay her hands on. She found nothing in the first 5 draws apart from an old torch and an empty folder, however in the very last draw beneath the desk she found a small scrap of paper, she smoothed it out and turned it over. Yaz’s eyes lit up as she realised, she was holding a phone number, she didn’t have a clue who’s number it was, but she carefully pocketed it and continued her search.

Yaz eyed the stairs, considering what approach to take next. She had no desire to keep rummaging around in the dark, but she didn’t want to miss anything important. She was also slightly worried that the stairs would end up being a death trap, who knows how long they’ve been sat here, rotting away. “Okay Yaz, what are you going to do?” She said under her breath, walking to the foot of the stairs, she shook her head and started to slowly ascend the steps, her heart beat fast as the boards creaked like a wailing banshee.

As she stepped on the second to last step, her heart skipped a beat and her foot fell all the way through, she let out a small scream out of shock and wrapped herself round the banister to steady herself, she pulled herself up onto the top step and crumpled onto the balcony, trying to slow her breathing and stop her hands from shaking, “Bloody hell.” She said through choked breaths.

She looked up from where she was crouching on the murky floor, there were three doors standing tall in front of her, with frosted glass panels and white lettering, she was intrigued by the warm glowing light cast from under each entrance, “so this place does have electricity…” she thought to herself. Yaz thought this was the most surprising thing, until she managed to get closer and realised what each door said. The first one was labelled “UNIT”, she remembered the doctor had mentioned them a few times, some sort of military organisation. She specifically recalled the doctor complaining about their use of guns and weaponry, this had made Yaz giggle, but she also had good things to say especially about the Stewart family. She decided this wasn’t what she was looking for and moved on.

The next door was labelled “Ministry of Defence and Important Personnel”, nope, once again not what she was looking for. She walked up to the final door and traced the letters carefully as she read them, “Torchwood.” She said out loud to herself, something about this word, it felt like a breath of fresh air, something was calling her in. She carefully turned the handle and pushed open the door, she didn’t need her torch the room was fully lit, but she felt safer holding the heavy metal object in her hand. She slowly made her way in. The room seemed dauntingly cavernous, so wide and high she couldn’t actually see the top of the room, it threw her off a little when the doors had been so close together on the balcony… it must be, “Bigger on the inside.” She said with a small laugh to herself. Every wall was lined with an impossible number of shelves, she noticed none of them were dusty, the shelves had been full recently. In the centre of the room, much like downstairs there was a single desk. This desk however, had an uncomfortable looking green chair and a small yellow lamp sitting on top.

“Torchwood… Torchwood.” She had been saying it over and over in her mind, she had heard it somewhere before, it was something she knew, right on the tip of her tongue but she couldn’t quite place it. Yaz had found this extremely frustrating, stomping her feet slightly as she racked her brains. “Torchwood.” She said one final time creeping over to the desk and circling it. She didn’t find anything. She flopped into the chair and sighed, feeling defeated. She dragged her legs up to her chest and hugged her knees close, feeling exhausted and confused. Yaz shut her eyes and tried to dispel the headache that had been brewing since that morning, she felt fuzzy and decided she wanted to go home and try another route, “I give up.” She whispered. Just as she was standing up to leave, she felt her foot catch something under the desk. She snapped back to life. A clarity washed over her as she pushed her chair back and crouched down. She pulled out a small cardboard box and smiled as she pulled out a relatively heavy file, some actual information an actual lead! She was grinning now.

The beige file had “TORCHWOOD” printed on the front in bright red letters, she let the file weigh down her hands as she contemplated once again where she had heard that phrase before. She flicked through it quickly, it looked like information about some sort of battle, as she got to the back page a faded photo fell softly to the floor. She picked it up and studied it carefully, four people together in a sort of laboratory or medical facility.

A pretty Asian woman sat on an office chair, smiling sweetly holding a book neatly in her lap. A tall man in a suit standing behind her, his tie as perfect as his hair. A thoroughly unimpressed man in a lab coat slouching to their left, holding a device Yaz had never seen in his hand, obviously trying to keep it out of reach of the woman on his other side, this woman was wearing a leather jacket and had dark cascading hair. She was mid laughter and looked as if she was trying to wind up the man in the lab coat.

Yaz smiled, something about them exuded confidence and power. The background was blurry, but she could see all sorts of screens and technology, maybe it was a research facility, was that what torchwood was?

She was so lost in her thoughts and feelings of triumph that it took her a moment to realise she could hear a whispering voice, “shit” She breathed, someone else was here, in her attempt to stand up quickly, she hit her head on the desk, “shit” She cried again, clutching her head, and stuffing the file under her arm before darting over to the door. She carefully clicked it open, clasping her torch close and peering into the corridor. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the darkness after being in the brightly lit room.

She could hear the whispering slightly more clearly now, there seemed to be two people. Her heart was thumping in her throat as she slowly crept out of the room and shut the door behind her. She swiftly navigated the stairs, careful not to trip on the step that now had a gaping hole, she ducked down behind the desk trying to assess the situation.

She couldn’t quite figure out where the voices were coming from, it felt like they were surrounding her, whispering voices assaulting her from every direction and burrowing into her skin. She couldn’t figure out what they were saying, even though they were growing to a deafening level, it was incomprehensible white noise. Covering her ears at this point she looked up and noticed a door that definitely wasn’t there before, or at least she hadn’t noticed it. An electric blue light was glowing through the frosted window, the light was getting brighter and brighter, almost blinding her, but Yaz could just make out the white lettering, her heart stopped for a moment.

“The Doctor”


End file.
